Washing machine



T. L. BRADFORD. WASHING MACHiNE.

APPLlCATlON FILED MAR. 24.1920.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

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WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION HLED, MAR. 24.1920.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

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WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24,1920.

1,409,333. Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

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WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man m. 24.,1920.

1,409,333, Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

4 SHEETS'$HEET 4 V THOMAS L. BRADFORD, 0F DETROIT, ,IVIIGHIGAN. 5

WASH NG MACHINE.

oughly cleansed with less tearing or injury. by their being 'nianually', rubbed} upon a. washboard as the worker'or washer rubs, scrubs and squeezes the dirt out-"of the clothes which dirt is released from the gare ment by-th'e action ofthe water or soap or other suitable detergent. g

It is an object of this invention to provide the washing machine which imitates the movement ofa person manually "rubbing clothes upon a washboardas iiiuch'as pos sible, to effect the thorough cleansing o'ftli e clothes. J c p .More specifically, the invention compr hends the provision of a washin'g machine as specified wherein an'oscillatory motion is imparted to tlie'tub'or container of the machine; the dasher being maintained stationaryand "which tub is' 'further moved up. wardlyflto give a squeezing action upon the fixed dasher and:

clothes therein between the the bottom of the tub.' a

A further objectfof the invention is to provide a washing machine which be power driven, such as by an electric motor or analogous motor, the motion from which is transmitted to the movable receptacle or tub of the machine through the medium of friction gears and cams, together with a v clutch mechanism which is associated with the friction gears; and also to provide means which will automatically operate the clutch at predetermined times for reversing the direction of rotation of the cam and consequently reversing the rotation of the container or tub of the washing machine, thereby causing a rubbing, scrubbing and squeea ing action upon the clothes within tliecontainer. D

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for yieldably mounting;

the dasher at certain times to prevent brealr ing of any part of the washing machine in Specification of Letters Patent.

case the dasher which has corrugations on itsunder' surface should be moved so th at the said corrugations or ribs would interengage with the corrugations or'ribs on the inner surface of the'bottom of the container while the prime mover was operated, andmeans to'lock the dasher against 'yieldable movement after the clothes have been placed i z'itented 'lifiar. 14, 1922; I Application filed match 24, 1920; Seria1 No. 368 ,383. 1

therein and the machine is ready for'c'l eanse ing or washing the said clothes.

in, the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying draw;

in'gs, forming a part of this specification and in which drawings: j

Figure"l""isa side elevation of the proved washing machine." T i Figure 2 is top plan of the p;ajiji g.i'

mechanism of theiwashing machine; p F gure 3 is an end elevation of the opera ating mechanism of the wasliingiiiachinenj Figure 4 is ap lan of thesupport fQl theremovable tubj or'container; u U y Figure 5 is a vertical section onthe line 5-5 of Figure 4. Y :1 "Figure' 61 is va :iragnientary'vertical section taken onthe line 6 -6 oi? Figure l, showing a part of themecha operating the clutch of movement of the container. j V H a Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectio'nta'lren on the line 7-7 ot Fig-ure4, illustrating an; other part ofthe cally operatin the clutch.

Other objects of the invention. will appear" i ism foi'jautomatically; to reverse the direction mechanismfor automatiQ V igure 8 is a'vertical sectionillustrat ing y" the clutch operating lever.

Figure 9 is a top plan of the dasher;

Figure 10 is a vertical section through the;

dasher, taken on the line 10 -10 of F ig. 9i

Figure 11 is a fragmentary section taken;

through the dasher; V

Figure 12 is a cross-section on the line;

12 12 of Figure 10. r

" Figure 13 is a: fragmentar Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like and corresponding parts, 20- indicates the supporting structure of. the washing ma;-

chine, as {tn-entirety which comprisesa suitable su'pporting platform 21 mounted, upon standards or supporting legs 22.

' The platform section taken" 21 has a standard 24 attached thereto in any suitable manner, about 'afportion of which standard a sleeve 25 is mounted. The standard 24 supports the container or tub support 26 which is preferably a spider like construction as clearly shown in Figure 4; of the drawings and has an enlarged depending hub portion 27 at the center thereof in the under surface of which the recess 28 is formed into which the upper end of the standard 24 extends. Aspring 29 is coiled about the standard 24 and its lower end engages the upper end of the sleeve 25 while the upper end of the spring engages the under surface of the hub 27 providing a yieldable mounting for the support 26 which will permit limited vertical movement of the said Supp t The spider-like support 26 has a depending annular flange .30 formed thereon, to which, at spaced intervals, upstanding lugs 31 are attached. The lugs 31 are adapted to engage the outer surface of the container or tub 32, which is shown in dot and dash lines of Figure 5 of the drawings, and in solid lines in Figure 1. This container 32 may be an ordinary tub such as used for washing clothes. However, it has the inner surface of its sides and a portion of the inner surface ofthe bottom corrugated as shown at 33 in Figure 18 of the drawings, to provide a rQughened surface for rubbing the clothes during operation of the washing machine.

' The tub or container 32 is removably mounted upon the support 26, so that it may be removed and used independently of the 11121- chine if desired.

A motor, which may be an electric motor, as shown at 3401' any other suitable type of prime mover is supported by the platform 21 and theoperating shaft 35 thereof has a bevelled friction cone 36 mounted thereon.

This friction cone or pinion 36 meshes with friction gears 37 and 38, bevelled to engage the bevelled surface of the pinion 36 and opposite sides of the axis thereof as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. The bevelled friction gears37 and .38 are loosely mounted upon an operating shaft 39 and they haveclutch sections 40 and 4:1 respectively formed on their inner facing sides.

These clutch sections LO and 11 are adapted to be engaged at different times by the clutch .42 which is feathered upon the shaft 39.

The clutch l2 is shifted, by means of the shifting lever 43 which is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends as shown at 4: 4 upon a suitable bracket 45 which may extend from the supporting structure 20 in any suitable manner, preferably from the outer bearings 46 of the shaft 39. I

The shaft 39 has its bevelled gear 47 upon its inner end which meshes with bevelled gears 48 and 49 mounted upon shafts 50 and 51 respectively. These shafts 50 and 51 are positioned in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the stem 24 and extend one upon each side of the said stem, being supported by suitable bearings 52. The shafts 50 and 51 have cams 53 and 54 keyed upon their outer ends whichcams engage the under surface of the support 26 for oscillating the support and the container or tub 32 which is mounted thereon.

The platform 21 has a pair of uprights 55 carried thereby which support the dasher structure of the washing machine. The dasher structure includesthe circular dasher 56, the under surface of which is corrugated, providing downstruck ribs 57 I for rubbing the clothes or articles to be washed in the machine. This dasher 56 is also provided with a plurality of openings 58 to permit the water to pass upwardly thereth-rough' during the squeezing action of the washing machine upon the clothes and also to vprevent the formation of a vacuum beneath the dasher- The dasher 56 is carried at the lower end Qof a rectangular dasher rod 59, which has av head 60 upon'its upper .end and which, ex-

tends through a sleeve 61 ,The sleeve .61 is rectangular in cross-section and extends:

through the support 62. The support orsup porting arm 62 of the dasher structure is,

pivotally connected at .one end toonegof the standards .55 and is providedwith recess 63 at its other end which engages over a bolt 6 1 carried by the opposite upright ,55. upon which bolt the recessed end of the supporting bar 62 is clamped by means of an ordinary wing nut 65. Spiral springs 66 and 6.7.en-

gage the upper and lowerends of the-sleeve 61 and they are also engagedby the termi nals of arms 68' and 69 respectively which are attached to the supporting, arm or ihar 62 and are ,slidably mounted upon the dasher carrying standard or stem 69 A set screw 70 extends through the sleeve 61 and is adapted: for binding engagement with th I stem'or rod 69 to rigldly' connect this stern or rod to the sleeve, to prevent vertical movement of the dasher independently of the support and the sleeve 61. The arms 68 and 69 are preferably made of resilient material and when the set screw 70 is turned out wardly to be free from engagement with the stem or red 59 the dasher 5 6and its stem .or

rod 59 are adapted to have limited vertical movement thereby eliminating the breaking of any parts of the washing machine in case the dasher should be in its lowermost point when placed in operative position and locked impart rotation to the shafts ,50 and 51 through the medium of the bevelled gears 47 ,48' and 49." Theicams 53 and .54 which are mounted upon theshafts'5O and 51 respectively are positioned so thatcorresponding portions thereof will simultaneously engage the under surface of thesupport 26 orso that the mountsor highest portions 53' of the cam will simultaneously engage the under surface of the support for" raising the tub to impart a squeezing actionto the clothes therein. The engagement of the periphery of the cams .53 and 54 with the'under surface of the support 26 will rotate the latter and consequently rotate the tub or container 32. Means is provided for automatically reversing the direction of rotation of the support 26 and container 32, and this mechanism includes a lug 75 which is carried by the periphery of the disc-like spider support 26 and presents an inclined surface 76 for engagement against the upper end of the a shifting lever 43 of the clutch 42, moving said shifting lever outwardly along the said inclined surface into substantially the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4 of the drawings, when the support 26 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow B. This shifting of the lever 43 will shift the clutch 42 for moving it into operative engagement with the. opposite friction gear 37 or 38 which it was originally in operative connection with and consequently rotate the support 26 in a direction reverse to that indicated by the arrow B. During the rotation of the support 26 in this reverse direction or in the direction indicated by the arrow A, in Figure 4 of the drawings, the upper end of the lever 43 will be engaged, by

the guiding finger 7 7 which shaped to rock the lever moving the upper free edge inwardly guiding finger is toward the periphery of the support 26 as shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 7: of

the drawings, thus reversing the movement of the clutch and consequently reversing the direction of rotation of the support 26 or causingthe support to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow A. In this manner the rotation of the support 26 and container 32 will be constantly altered during opera tion of the washing machine and consequently thoroughly rubbing the clothes being clamped therein while an oscillatory action will be imparted to the tub through the medium of the cams 53 and 54, which cams will also move the tub or retainer 32 upwardly when the mounts 53 of the cam are in engagement with the under surface of the support 26, thereby imparting a squeezing action to the clothes between the container and the dasher 57.

A crank handle 78 may be mounted upon the outer'end of the shaft 39 and the motor or prime mover 34 disconnected to permit operation of the washing machine by hand if so desired.

43 upon its pivot 44 yoke connecting Changes in details may be madewithofut departing from the "spirit of this invention;

- I claim: I

:1. In a washing ,machine, the combination, of-a container, means forrotating said container, a-dasher,n1eans yieldably supporting said dasher to. permitlimited vertical movement-thereof, means for rendering said yieldable means inactive, said rotating means for the container adapted to move the container toward the dasher at predetermined intervals to impart a squeezing action to clothes between the bottom of the container and dasher, and means operated by the rotation of the supportfor automatically reversing the direction of rota-- tion of the support and container.

2. In a washing machine,the combination, of a support, a clothes container removably carried by the support, cams engaging said support for rotating and reciprocating the support and container, a prime mover, means operatively connecting said prime mover to said cams for rotating the cams/by opermover, a clutch interposed in said connecting means whereby the direction of rotation of said cams may be reversed, and means car ried by said supportfor automatically oper-' ating said clutch at predetermined intervals during the rotation of said support and containerfor reversing the direction 'of 'rotation of the cams. V

4. In a washing machine, the combination,

of a base, a support carried by the base,

a clothes container associated with the support, means for imparting a rotary and reciprocatory movement to the support and container, standards carried by the base, a the standards and extending across the container and having a centrally disposed opening formed therein, a sleeve slidably mounted in the opening, a stem slidably mounted in the sleeve, means for adjustably and releasably connecting the stem tothe sleeve, upper and lower resilient arms carried by the yoke arranged to'receive the stem, a head formed on the stem, and

springs coiled around the stem and interposed between the resilient arms and the sleeve. r

5. In a washing machine, the combination, of a base, a vertically movable and rotatable support carried by the base, a clothes conisof tainer associated With the support, a dasher for the clothes container, a drive shaft, drive gear secured to the drive shaft, :1 counter shaft carried by the base, a pair 5 of gears rotatably mounted upon the counter shaft and engaging the opposite sides of the drive gear, a pair of operating shafts rotatably carried by the base and arranged adjacent to the diametric center of the con- 10 tainer, means operatively connecting the operating shafts with the counter shaft to permit the operating shafts to be driven in opposite directions, cams carried by the operating shafts and arranged toengagethe THOMAS 'L. BRADFORD. 

